The Buffalo Bills easily trounced the Washington Commanders, 37-3, as a defense had at least nine sacks and intercepted four passes for just the sixth time in Super Bowl history.
The honeymoon phase for quarterback Sam Howell and his pals is suddenly ended. The local fanbase is relishing the start of the post-Daniel Snyder era, and emotions have been mostly good both on and off the field. So far this season, a new ownership group headed by Magic Johnson, Josh Harris, and others has diverted attention from some potentially concerning patterns.
To begin with, in just three games, Howell has already been sacked 19 times. That’s not only the most sacks allowed this season (six more than the next closest club), but it’s also the highest
Even in situations where Howell did not mishandle the ball, the offense was unable to clear its own path. Even though he only saw five touches that day, running back Antonio Gibson still managed to fumble for the second time in three games; the offensive line as a whole still appears overmatched; and Washington only converted one of nine third-down tries that day.
Buffalo recorded nine sacks, their highest total since the team recorded ten against Washington in 2011. That day in Toronto, in one of the worst games I’ve watched in my 19 seasons as a sideline reporter, John Beck was the quarterback. However, its performance was significantly poorer. Pressure has been applied to Howell on a league-high 15.4% of his dropbacks, and this percentage won’t go down unless he starts to release the ball more quickly and/or the offensive line improves as a unit.
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